Masdar secures land for 10GW wind farm in Egypt
Masdar secures land for 10GW wind farm in Egypt | Windpower Monthly
It signed the land agreement with Egypt’s new renewable energy authority in Cairo, alongside development partners Infinity Power and Hassam Allam Utilities.
Infinity Power is Masdar’s joint venture with Egyptian renewables developer Infinity, while Hassam Allam Utilities is a sustainable infrastructure-focused investment platform.
They believe the $10 billion wind farm will help Egypt to meet its target of sourcing 42% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.
It is not yet clear what further permitting approvals the developers will need before they can start construction, when the project could start construction or be commissioned, where the project will be built, what stake each development partner will own in the project, how the developers will be paid for output from the project, or whether the wind farm will only deliver green electricity to the grid or also be used to produce green hydrogen.
Mohamed Shaker Al-Markabi, Egypt's electricity and renewable energy minister said: “Egypt has comparative advantages in terms of the land available, which is necessary to produce a huge volume of electricity from renewable resources.
“Furthermore, Egypt's geographical location enables it to export green energy to Europe, especially as the country looks to further enhance and raise the efficiency of its national grid.”
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: wind
Decades of government support for the development of wind energy has resulted in lower costs and a rapidly growing share of electricity generated by wind turbines. Wind in 2019 accounted for 7.3 percent of electrical generation, surpassing for the first time hydropower at 7.0 percent.